


Stepmother

by MrProphet



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 23:38:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10707537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrProphet/pseuds/MrProphet





	Stepmother

Susan knocked politely on the study door and waited.

“Come in.”

She pushed the door open and entered.

The second Mrs Bread sat at her desk with a pile of papers spread out in front of her. Her fine, dark hair escaped from its neat, matronly bun in untidy wisps; her dark, pretty eyes were narrow with worry and weariness. She looked up as Susan entered and took off her half-moon spectacles. She made a move to stand and then caught herself.

“Ah, Miss Sto Helit; Susan. So glad you could find the time to…” She broke off again, remembering that Susan had no choice whether to see her or not, or at least no choice but the sack. “Please, sit down.”

“Thank you, Mrs Bread.”

Mrs Bread blushed. “Please, call me Lily.”

“I should rather call you Mrs Bread,” Susan replied. “It would be more proper.”

“Of course. Silly of me.” Mrs Bread shuffled the papers on her desk awkwardly. “So, you’ve been with us for…”

“Six months,” Susan supplied.  _I’ve been with the family as long as you have._

“Gosh. Is it only six months? You seem so much a part of things here, um… Annabeth certainly seems to have taken to you.”

“I have a way with children.”

“I suppose you would have to, to be a governess.”

“No,” Susan replied. “Only to be a  _good_  governess.”

Mrs Bread averted her gaze as though she were facing an accusation. “I, ah… I was sorry to hear that you would be leaving us.”

 _Liar._  “It’s nothing to do with the family, you understand. I want to take a new direction with my life. There’s an opening at the school and…”

“Yes, yes; I understand. It’s just that it’s been such a boon having you here. I don’t know how we’ll cope without you.”

Susan regarded the woman for a long moment. “May I give you some advice?” she asked at last.

Mrs Bread opened her mouth to answer and began to cry. Susan stayed in her seat and passed a handkerchief across the desk. When Mrs Bread showed no sign of stopping, she got up, went to the door and peeked out into the corridor. A small, pale face was peering around the bottom of the tower stairs.

“Go to bed,” Susan told her.

“Did you make the wicked witch cry?” Annabeth asked.

“She’s not a wicked witch, she’s your stepmother,” Susan replied, although she knew there wasn’t a big difference in the child’s mind.

“Did you make her cry?”

“Yes,” Susan sighed. “I suppose I did.”

“Good.”

“Go to bed, Annabeth.”

“Can’t. There’s a monster under there.”

Susan shook her head. “No there isn’t; I checked twice and put yellow rose petals under the sheets.”

“This monster’s not all ergic to roses.”

“Then he’s not a bad monster. It must be Ernest.”

Annabeth’s face was a picture of bewilderment. “Who?”

“Ernest. He looks like a monster, but he eats bed bugs and sings lullabies. Ask him to sing to you and go to sleep.”

“Alright, Susan,” Annabeth agreed. “If you kill the wicked stepmother!”

Susan smiled grimly. “Don’t worry; I’ll get rid of the wicked stepmother.”

She went back into the room, where Mrs Bread had stopped crying.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Mrs Bread admitted. “She adores you.”

“Just be firm with her.”

“I try…”

“Not  _strict_ , just firm. You want her to like you so you wheedle and plead, then when she won’t do what you say you shriek at her. Find something in the middle,” Susan advised. “It’s not going to be easy. Mr Bread has indulged that girl since her mother died, and now he expects you to discipline her, run the household accounts – which he let slide into chaos – manage the staff – who still look on you as one of them with delusions of grandeur –  _and_  be charming for his guests.”

Mrs Bread smiled wanly. “Sometimes I think he even expects me to sleep with him.”

Susan chuckled. “Annabeth thinks you’re wicked because you’re her stepmother. When you try to be nice to her, she doesn’t believe it because you’re too nervous. 

“Be honest. Be nice to her, but on  _your_  terms. Tell her what to do; be nice to her when she does it and firm with her if she won't. She’ll respect that and you won’t have to shout so much. And get that husband of yours to pull his weight,” she added. “If he was willing to discipline the girl once in a while then she wouldn’t always see you as the enemy.”

Susan smiled at her employer. “You’re a good woman, Lily. Mr Bread married you so he’d have someone to take charge of his house, so take charge of it and him and his ghastly, spoiled daughter as well.”

Mrs Bread laughed out loud. “You think she’s spoiled as well”

“Spoiled rotten!” Susan laughed. “But you can help her.”

“I’m not her mother.”

“Wrong. You are.” Susan stood up and smiled. “Stop thinking like an outsider, Lily Bread. That girl needs a firm hand and you’ll have to provide it, because the gods know her father won’t.” She held out her hand. “Good luck.”

Mrs Bread stood up and took Susan’s had in a firm grip. “Thank you, Susan. You too.”

*

Susan looked in on Annabeth before she went to bed.

“I told you to go to sleep,” she said firmly.

“Did you kill the wicked stepmother?”

“Yes. The wicked stepmother is gone. I think you’ll like the one you’ve got now.”


End file.
